Pub neighbours complain of noise during iconic East Devon music festival

Residents who live next to a popular Devon pub have complained about noise levels during a landmark music festival.

The Anchor Inn, in Sidmouth, is a key Sidmouth Folk Festival venue, hosting a range of acts, but some of its neighbours have claimed the sound emerging from the pub during the event is too loud.
Sound experts from East Devon District Council conducted a host of tests during Folk Week and in their detailed 11-page report, stated there was “no evidence” of excessively loud music, but have suggested a potential maximum level for music in the pub’s beer garden.
The report adds that setting the 96 dB limit – measured one metre in front of a main stage speaker – should “strike a practical balance between enforcing appropriate noise controls and avoiding excessive restrictions on the premises”.
As part of their tests, the sound experts temporarily requested music levels of 92 dB, but said it “quickly became clear that this volume was insufficient for the needs of the event”.
“Audience members towards the middle of the car park, particularly those dancing, began shouting for the volume to be increased, as the callers for the Ceilidh could not be heard above the general background noise of the crowd,” the report said.
Two sound monitors recorded nearly four hours’ of sound during the Folk Week, with readings taken within the pub’s beer garden, as well as outside and inside the lead complainant’s property.
Councillors will decide this week (Wednesday 8 October) whether to review the licence and implement the 96 decibel (dB) limit, which would fall to around 70 dB by the time it reached residents’ windows.
“There is no evidence to suggest that the music noise levels recorded during Folk Week were unrepresentative of typical levels generated by the event,” the report prepared for the licensing and enforcement sub-committee states.
Resident Steven Chalkley submitted the request for the pub’s licence to be reviewed, with eight other residents providing supporting statements.
But two residents provided written statements in support of the landlords, Trevor and Denise Fudge, with a petition containing more than 60 names – including some who also live within the immediate vicinity of the pub – backing the business.
The landlords, who did not wish to comment to the Local Democracy Reporting Service ahead of this week’s meeting, have made their case in a written submission, saying the complaint came with “great sadness”.
“As a very proud ‘platinum sponsor’ of the Sidmouth Folk Festival, equating to an annual cost to the business of approximately £8,000 per annum, we have made every effort to mitigate these concerns in previous years,” the pair’s statement said.
“We regrettably find ourselves having to work closely with authorities to address these concerns in writing.
“The heritage of The Sidmouth Folk Festival and the decades of revenue it has brought to the town are extremely important to us and we feel honoured to be part of it. The economical benefits to both the business and the town as a whole are unequivocal.”
In his request for the licence review, Mr Chalkley claimed his grounds for pursuing the action were for “the prevention of public nuisance”.
“Music noise levels from the daily/nightly Folk Week events at the rear of the Anchor Public House cause a public nuisance from 11:30am-11pm and beyond to neighbouring properties adjacent to the premises, affecting the mental wellbeing of residents,” his submission states.
He added that “excessive noise levels” had been a problem since the venue started hosting Folk Week events.
“Immediate neighbours and I made representations to East Devon District Council in 2014/15 and regular weekend music nights during summer months were curtailed, leaving eight continuous performance days for Folk Week and an agreement to reduce noise levels.”
As part of a previous hearing of this case at the licensing and enforcement sub-committee in July, which was adjourned for the sound analysis to be conducted, the pub, which employs 24 people, did agree to alter how it deals with empty barrels during Folk Week by stacking them at the furthest point from noise sensitive properties.